by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

Brooklyn Nets point guard Deron Williams drank juice and shot himself up with cortisone and platelet-rich plasma during the All-Star break.

Now ...

"I can dunk," Williams told news reporters (via New York Post), though he was blocked on his only attempt this season.

Williams has been hampered all season by ankle injuries that likely will require surgery this offseason. But the Post reports that during February's second week, when he sat two games before the break, Williams went on a three-day juice cleanse and had a third round of injections in his ankles.

Since, he has been renewed, averaging 21.7 points and 7.1 assists a game and shooting 45.5% on three-pointers.

"My ankles don't hurt," Williams said. "We finally got the injections in the right spot, and I feel a little bit better. I can actually go up and down stairs. I can run around with my kids. I can go to the playground with them. I don't hurt every time I take a single step, so yeah, I feel a lot better."

With that improvement from their star, though, the Nets have gone 3-4 since the break. Three of those games, though, were without Joe Johnson, the other half of the Nets' max-contract backcourt.

But the mixed results still fall on Williams, who was the big name meant to headline the Nets' move to Brooklyn. His shooting has improved since the break to 43.8% from the field, but that remains a far cry from his efficient days with the Utah Jazz before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in February 2011.

He shot 46.6% from the field in 5½ seasons with the Jazz but is at 40.6% with the Nets. And his turnovers are up, too, as he's averaged 3.5 a game with the Nets - including 4.0 during this recent stretch - after 3.0 a game with the Jazz.

But things are improving. And Williams can dunk. When he will again remains uncertain.